A quote from the website:

“We are in the midst of an economic downturn. People are losing jobs, losing money and having to rethink their priorities. In addition, the whole world of business is undergoing a profound change which is likely to affect the way we work for the remainder of this century, and beyond: mechanical systems are out, human systems are in. In this time of economic uncertainty and shifting paradigms some people will react with fear and panic, clinging on to old ideas and closing their hearts and minds. Others will respond with laughter and ingenuity, seeking and embracing the new opportunities that will arise from the current chaos.”  — WelfareCSM

This program is not about handouts.  I use the term “welfare” in the sense of “something that aids or promotes well-being for the common good; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; exemption from any evil or calamity; prosperity; happiness.”  I am seeking passionate, committed individuals who desire to learn, and broaden their outlook on work and life.  The workshops are open to anyone, and not restricted to people in the IT industry.

If this interests you in any way, please read more at WelfareCSM.  Thanks.

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I spent most of the last few days on mine, and now have eight submissions awaiting assessment and judgment.  Of course, I’d love to receive comments on the conference web site from any readers of this blog.  You’ll need an Agile2009 id to log in, and if you don’t have one yet, get one!  They are free, and will allow you to submit your own session as well as commenting on other people’s.

Here is the list of my submissions.

• New Dance for New Product Development
• The Spirit of Scrum: Road to Joy
• The Agile Playground
• Scale Back: Small is Beautiful
• Solving the The HR Problem in 90 Minutes — with Xavier Quesada Allue
• Operating on the Creative Edge (Improv in Agile) — with Jim York
• Help me to see… corporate culture — with Alan Cyment
• Powerful Questions: Human-centric coaching — with Lyssa Adkins

And while you are here, please take a moment to take a look at my friend Xavier’s new Visual Management Blog.  It is very impressive, and a great resource to be building for this community.

I hope to see some of you in Chicago in August.  And if you are submitting yourself, I wish you acceptance

I have written the first post: #1: Helsinki, January 2008. All subsequent entries will be available on the Danube blog, which also contains great writing from many excellent Scrum trainers.  Check it out.

I’ll still be writing here from time to time, so don’t desert this space just yet.  My blog life is reflective of my home life: I am somewhat rootless these days, wandering and wondering…

Dear Jim,

No More Self-Organizing Teams by Jim Highsmith
Cutter Consortium article, 9/13/2007

I read this article with interest. I am an anarchist at heart, and yes, I believe in grass-roots revolution as a way to fundamentally change the way we think about building software. I use my anarchistic tendencies to help people to reconceive ideas. It is a powerfull and energizing tool.

Anarchism¹ has had a useful role to play in the history of democracy in the world. I think it also has (i.e. has had and continues to have) a useful role to play in the Agile space. Let’s not discard it so quickly. Jesus of Nazareth was an anarchist. So was Gandhi. Both initiated great change.

The danger of your article, is that managers will jump on it to utterly dismiss the concept of self-organization. Look at the title of the article, look at the name you have in the Agile space. Many people will not even read the words beyond the first sentence… “I’ve been thinking recently that the term ’self-organizing’ has outlived its usefulness in the agile community and needs to be replaced”. That would be tragic.

The way you used the duck-suit analogy (i.e. calling anarchism self-organizing is like putting a duck-suit on a chicken) was offensive and dismissive of a great number of good people creating magic in staid, crippled, half-dead corporations by injecting the passion of self-organization. Please be careful with your words; they carry a lot of weight. Self-organization may well be misunderstood, and I agree with you that it often is, but that is not cause to dismiss it out of hand. Seek to enlighten rather than to appease.

Self-organization is a key principle of Agile. The concept is utterly essential to changing the way people in the software industry think about their value system, and about how they work together across organizational tiers.

Good self-organization does not exclude leadership, and does not, as you imply only allow for situational leadership. The need for a leader, and more importantly the type of leader, should emerge from the need of the team, not be imposed ahead of time, or indeed at any time. People outside of the team are less well positioned to know what the team requires. Teams should request leaders. Well-functioning self-organized teams do that. I have seen it. It is healthy behavior.

I don’t think I fundamentally disagree with your sentiment: leaders drive teams to success, I was just saddened by the way you said it, and how inevitably it will be (mis)interpreted.

Sincerely,
Tobias

¹ I use the term anarchism as defined by the American Heritage College Dictionary: “Rejection of all forms of coercive control and authority” and by other non-inflammatory sources, many of which can be found in the Wikipedia entry for anarchism. In particular this quote by L. Susan Brown helps clarify the true meaning of the idea: “While the popular understanding of anarchism is of a violent, anti-State movement, anarchism is a much more subtle and nuanced tradition then a simple opposition to government power. Anarchists oppose the idea that power and domination are necessary for society, and instead advocate more co-operative, anti-hierarchical forms of social, political and economic organisation.” (The Politics of Individualism, p. 106)

So Jo and I failed to meet up this time, but I got to wander the London streets and visit the National Portrait Gallery before going on to meet my friend-of-many-years, Miche, at her office near the Bank.  We ate lunch at Wagamama’s, and then drank coffee at yet another Starbucks.  Miche is always an inspiration; she is continually learning and expanding her horizons, and she has me believing that anything is possible.  Conversation flows… and she paid for lunch too.  Thanks, Miche. 

London was hot today, but you know, as always very cool.  Being here always makes me realize how much I love this city, and how I miss it.  I am fortunate that my work brings me back here from time to time.  Maybe next time Jo and I will define our meeting requirements a little better… inspect and adapt.  Progress.

Footnote: When I told my mother the Starbucks tale, she listened with a bemused look before finally saying “But what is this ‘Starbucks’?”. Seriously.